And many where cannibalised!:banghead:
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And many where cannibalised!:banghead:
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I can remember buying a No1Mk3 for $9.95 and a No4 for 11.95. 03Springfields were expensive, $40
Hank, Thanks for the blast from the past. I would think a Johnson conversion would be well done, at least.
John, I remember from the early 60s there were trash cans with mil-surp bolt actions placed muzzle down offered cheaply at the sporting goods/army-navy store we frequented. L-Es, '03s, Mausers and 'them Russian rifles' all sweating cosmoline. Yeah, good times.
Brad
And barrels of Lee Enfield P07 bayonets, your choice for a buck each!:eek:
There was a Military Surplus store in Chicago that gave a german helmet as a premiumn if you bought a certain amount of merchandise.
"Too soon ve gets old und too late ve gets schmart"
When home on leave in 63 or 64 I bought a Mk5 carbine,from a ARMY-NAVY store between 9th and 10th avenue and 42nd street,in Manhattan NY,NY,I think the name was Hector's A&N store.
I road the subway and El back home to the Bronx NY,with the carbine in full sight,nobody even looked concerned.
She had like a rubber based paint on the steel,I thought OH Boy a rust bucket,but the bluing when removing the paint was about 80% good,and the bore was fine,a little dark with no rust.
When I bought my house in 68 I took the Mk5 UP State NY with me,and promptly sold it,the Mk5 couldn't hit a pizza box at at 100yds.
I forgot about the bayonets, John! Which for some reason caused me to remember that not even KOOL AID could stem the aluminum taste from the canteens. Modern army-navy stores seem to lack the proper smell, also.
Hank, That goes hand-in-hand with one of my favorite storys as a kid. Nobody thought a thing about a group of us riding our bicycles, .22s held by our thumbs on the handlebars on our way to the city dump to shoot rats. I still have that Sears lever action .22 I begged for in '61.
Brad
OH yes rat hunting,we had a dump by the White Stone Bridge in the Bronx NY.We would pull in at night turn the headlights off for a time,then turn them on,wall to wall rats,open fire.Kids cant have fun like that any longer,it's agents the laws now.Quote:
Originally Posted by bradtx
That would cost $543 in today's bucks! That sure seems expensive. The rifle itself cost $84 in 2009 dollars. Hunters and shooters must've been desparate for sporters right after the war.
The "fair trade" laws of the time, under which the manufacturers dictated the retail prices of commercial items, made new guns very expensive. Moreover the conversion from military to civilian production took some time. Ammo was still rationed well into the 1946, early 47. Add to that the HUGE demand for anything that shot by returning veterans who'd developed a love of shooting during their service..Quote:
Originally Posted by smle-man
SMLE's seemed to be a popular surplus choice in my neck of the woods. I'm guessing that the Brits dumped them in huge quantity right after the war. They were the cheapest thing on the rack at the "Outdoor Store" on Main Street. Various U.S weapons showed up some time later but were always much more expensive.
As a kid I recall the "gun corner" of that store being greasy,dark and smelly, just like the guns on the rack. Loose rounds from torn cardboard boxes cluttered the floor. The lady shop keeper just swept them into the corner. I recall a sign that ammo was 5 to 8 cents a round depending on caliber. Everything dried up quickly after the 1968 ban on surplus importation.
Makes ya wonder how many of those Johnson conversions are lurking in closets and attics across the country. Yes, I remember the "good ole days"! Winnicks Army Navy in Elmira NY. Got my #5 there in 1960. A year earlier my dad got his #1 MkV at Ackley & Son in Westfield Pa. followed by a P-14. I cant accurately remember the prices but they were definately cheap.
Were any Lee Enfields imported to the USA before 1945? I can hardly imagine that the British Government would sell off any surplus before that time?
Anyone know for sure when surplus Lee Enfield rifles became available in Britain? I know that Parker Hale offered surplus sporter conversions of Long Lees in their catalogues from the 1930s.
I suppose there might be some documentation somewhere that shows when the "Sold Out of Service" stamp was introduced.
Of course, BSA and LSA sold commercial versions to the public, but these were not surplus.
Many where taken back to the USA by GIs as War souvoners,along with a multitude of other firearms,popular at the time but since stopped.
Jc5, For the most part I don't think that L-Es, or any other mil-surp rifle would become available in quantity untill they were declared obsolete. Post WWII became the age of the self loading rifle, bolt action rifles were kept for a main battle rifle for a few years (mainly Korea) and then for second line usage for awhile, but eventually weren't needed at all.
Brad
War Souveniers? You got to be kidding! you don't make a souvenier of your allies stuff, Only the losers goodies got taken home by GI's.
Also, the Brits did not adopt the FN-FAL until the late 1950s, I believe, and it was probably a few more years before the new rifle was completely distributed to all soldiers.
So if we suppose that surplus is not made available until after a rifle is obsolete, this would put us in the early 60s, right? Do we have evidence of Lee Enfields arriving in the USA before that?
The surplus story is a valid part of the Lee Enfield Story. Consider two things:
1) The Lee Enfield has had a surplus life (c1960-2009) that is almost as long as its official service life (1888-c1957).
2) The Lee Enfield has probably seen as many (or more?) rounds fired by civilian as by soldiers, especially if you consider civilian target competition and worldwide hunting use.
Your right John,Even I would never take an Allies weapon home after WW2,discrasful!Quote:
Originally Posted by John Sukey
But one thing stymies me,how bid so many Enfields arrive here,and a sporterizing business start in 1946,just one year after WW2 ended?
I think I know?The Brits gave them to the USA as partial payment for financing the War in Europe.:dunno:That's it!!
Yes and no, No.1's may have been surplussed before the war, then after the war Britian may have had more Enfields then it knew what to do with, and may have surplussed rifles to the civilian market to get rid of them. So they may have not been obsolete and already have been selling the war issued rifles and the rifles in production contracts they couldn't cancel before they went down to peace time amounts of rifles and other misc equipment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jc5
Eh, on a case by case basis you may find that to be true, I've met too many hunters that have the same old box of hunting ammunition for the last half dozen years or more because they have not shot it more then at the one deer they had a tag for. :move eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jc5
Dimitri
If you look closely at the ad, you'll notice they are talking about M1917 "Enfields" Not No.4 Enfields. Which were considered by the US unwanted due to the stocks of M1903's and the production of the M1 Rifles.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank Stone
Dimitri
H P Martin's article in the American Rifleman of 1940 noted that "the Lee Enfield is a rifle not often seen on this side of the Canadian border" while implying that P-14s were more common, and notes that he had to send to London to obtain any chargers after Bannerman's failed to find any.